A bride and groom are photographed every six seconds during their big day

Published:10:01Tuesday 25 April 2017

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On average, a bride and groom are photographed more than 3,000 times throughout their wedding day, according to a new study by online smartphone retailer, Mobiles.co.uk

The research, which polled 1,015 recently married or engaged couples and 1,015 recent wedding guests, looked into the role of photography at a wedding, and asked if having guests take regular smartphone snaps is a help or hindrance to the happy couple.

More than three quarters (77%) of guests will whip their phone out to capture special moments, with an average of 28 photos taken per person. Add professional photos to the equation, and a bride and groom can expect to be snapped every six seconds during their big day.

Of the non-professional photos taken, around a third (29%) are put on social media and 39% are shared with the bride and groom. Just under a third (29%) of guests will print photos, whilst one in ten turn their photos into a special wedding gift.

The research revealed that guest-captured photos are popular with wedding parties, as they are often more natural, or a more thorough record of the day than those taken by professionals. In fact, recently married couples revealed that a third of the photos taken by their guests were excellent quality, and 15% had proactively requested copies and asked guests to upload to a specific wedding app.

Despite this, more than a third (35%) of engaged couples plan to employ a photographer for the entire day – typically at a cost of more than £1,0003. Only one in 20 (5%) couples trust friends and family to take all of their wedding photos.

Christian and Megan Dente got married in 2015 in Scarborough. They said: “We didn’t want to scrimp on our wedding photography, because capturing the day, mood and people in the right way was really important to us. However, we understood that our photographer was only one man, and couldn’t be everywhere at once, which is why we gave our guests a hashtag to upload photos to social media.

“The day after the wedding, we were inundated with social media notifications, with our friends and family capturing some brilliant moments we didn’t get to see, and we were really surprised with the quality of photographs. From my best man wearing my grandma’s hat, to a failed human pyramid and a really special shot of our first dance, without our friends’ and family’s photography we’d have missed out on these special moments.”

Alex Blakelock and her fiancé Paul Zalecki are getting married in Leeds in 2018. They added: “We’re getting married early next year and have just started looking into photographers. We’ll definitely have one at the ceremony, and at the reception, but knowing that we will also have lots of friends there to take photos on their phones does take the pressure off.

“We’ll definitely set up an app for people to share their photos of the day, as we think they’ll be in the thick of it and able to catch us at our most relaxed. We’re happy for guests to share photos on social media – we think it shows that they’re having a good time and would probably be a bit offended if they didn’t!”

Andrew Cartledge, Mobile Expert at Mobiles.co.uk, said: “With smartphone cameras now so advanced, it is no surprise that we are snap happy, especially during special occasions when we feel an even greater desire to capture those big moments!

“Organising a wedding is stressful at the best of times, but knowing you’ll have a thorough record of the day thanks to friends and family is sure to ease pressure on your photographer, and ensure you can look back and reminisce for years to come!”